


Of Love and Death

by ingoldamn



Series: Romeo and Juliet Fics [2]
Category: Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare, Romeo et Juliette - Presgurvic
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Mentions of Death, Unrequited Love, and the Romeo/Mercutio kiss in the italian production, i'm so very sorry for this, inspired by Giacomelli's wonderful Mercuzio, mercutios last thoughts, this is angsty angsty angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2013-12-05
Packaged: 2018-01-03 13:51:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1071200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ingoldamn/pseuds/ingoldamn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Mercutio has been in love with Romeo for a very long time. Well, to be fair, it has probably left the general area of ‘infatuation’ and entered the dangerous neighbourhood of ‘full-blown obsession’ several years ago, but, nevertheless, Mercutio loves Romeo."</p><p>The story of Mercutio's love for Romeo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Love and Death

Mercutio has been in love with Romeo for a very long time. Well, to be fair, it has probably left the general area of ‘infatuation’ and entered the dangerous neighbourhood of ‘full-blown obsession’ several years ago, but, nevertheless, Mercutio loves Romeo.

And he knows that Romeo loves him too, even if it’s not quite the kind of love he wants it to be; Romeo’s love is strong and constant, and always completely platonic, and the young Montague has never seen fit to acknowledge any of Mercutio’s subtle (and not-so-subtle, Benvolio assures him) attempts at showcasing his less-than-pure interest in his best friend (or perhaps Romeo is just that oblivious – Mercutio is loath to think it, but even he has to admit that it is not completely outside the realm of posibility).

In any case, while Romeo flitters from lady to lady, never quite in love with any of them, Mercutio finds some comfort in his ever changing affections, finds comfort in the knowledge that even though Romeo will some day marry a lady (probably chosen by his Lady Mother), no one will ever mean more to him than Mercutio (except perhaps Benvolio, but Mercutio could never be jealous of him, not even in this regard).

And then Romeo meets Juliet, daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. And Mercutio knows, beyond a shadow of doubt, that he is no longer first among those, who has the affection of Romeo.

He feels scorned, denied, and knows, with sudden clarity, what every woman, Romeo has loved, must have felt when they saw him with someone else.

He wishes he could be happy for them, he really does, but the jealousy, the feeling of betrayal – because Mercutio does feel betrayed – is tearing him apart. He tries to hide it, to keep it in, bottle it up, and he almost, almost succeeds, but then Tybalt shows up and Mercutio hates him, hates his smug smile and the knowing look in his eyes – because, of course, Tybalt would know. He is the embodiment of everything Mercutio despises.

Tybalt, as it turns out, is looking for Romeo, and when the young man shows up, Mercutio cannot control himself any longer.

He attacks Tybalt, doing his very best to take out his anger and his pain and his sadness on the Capulet, doing everything he can to hurt him, to kill him.

It doesn’t surprise him, when Romeo jumps between them, nor does it surprise him when Romeo’s feeble attempts at calming them don’t work.

He is surprised, however, when Tybalt’s sword sinks into the soft skin below his heart (he is wounded under Romeo’s desperately protective arm – the irony is not lost upon him).

Tybalt flees, of course, when he sees the growing bloodstain on Mercutio’s shirt and he realises what he has done. Fleetingly, Mercutio pities him, knowing that, for all his strength and boldness, Tybalt never truly wanted to kill him, knowing that this will probably be the last thing Tybalt ever does. The thought makes him smile.

Romeo and Benvolio ask him about the injury, trying to figure out whether he will live or die. Mercutio knows he will die, the wound is too deep, too close to his heart for anything else, but he tries to brush it off.

He almost fools them too. They laugh, albeit nervously, with him, when he suddenly staggers and almost falls over. Romeo is there immediately, wounds his strong arms around Mercutio and almost carries him to the nearest bench, so that he can lie down.

Mercutio knows he is dying, can feel the life run from him, as he rests in Romeo’s arms. He is babbling, words flowing from him with no connection and no meaning, and he has no idea what he is saying, just knows that he has to say it, before it’s too late.

Benvolio is crying somewhere in the background, but Mercutio’s entire world narrows down to nothing but Romeo’s tear-streaked face.

His eyelids are getting heavy and the world is starting to get fuzzy around the edges. The end is growing near, he knows it as surely as he knows the sun rises in the east and goes down in the west, but… he looks closely at Romeo, focusing on his lips… he has to do one thing first, before death can claim him. He cannot bear the thought of never-ending sleep without having felt Romeo’s lips on his own, without having at least a vague idea of what those lips feel like, what they taste like.

He musters whatever strength he has left, lifts his head and presses his lips to Romeo’s in a desperate kiss. It feels almost as he imagined it would, although in his dreams they were never salty with fresh tears. The kiss ends, when Mercutio’s strength fails at last.

For a moment he and Romeo look at each other, then Mercutio takes one final shaky breath and stops breathing all together.

He doesn’t hear Romeo’s cries, nor Benvolio’s sobbing, nor Tybalt’s pleas for mercy. He doesn’t rage when Romeo is banished, nor does he travel to Mantua when Juliet dies, nor does he grieve with Benvolio when Romeo follows her. Never again does he sing or jest or drink or dance or do his very best to avoid responsibilities. Never again does he start a fight in the streets of Verona.

Mercutio is dead.

**Author's Note:**

> \- based on Luca Giacomelli's wonderful, wonderful, perfect portrayal of Mercutio in Romeo e Giulietta - Ama e Cambia il Mondo (check it out on youtube - it's brilliant!)
> 
> \- I almost made myself cry, while writing this - that's how pathetic I am
> 
> \- Mercutio is my favourite and Luca Giacomelli is a gift from the gods
> 
> \- come and talk to me on tumblr @ingoldamn
> 
> \- did I mention I really, really love Luca Giacomelli as Mercutio? 'Cause I do. He's wonderful and perfect and his hair is great


End file.
